


Black

by especiallythezefronposter



Series: Equals [3]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-28
Updated: 2013-11-28
Packaged: 2018-01-02 21:43:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1061978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/especiallythezefronposter/pseuds/especiallythezefronposter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thor's words remind Loki of better times.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Black

**Author's Note:**

> This fic takes place right after the events of Brown, so you should probably read that fic and the one before that first.

Thor slowly set Jormungandr's shrunken head on the ground, handling it as if it weighed a ton. Then he stumbled back to the wall of Loki's bedroom, leaning against it for support. He lifted his hand towards Loki, who was in Hel's form again, as if he was trying to ward him of. 'Don't kill me,' he said weakly, breathing heavily. 'I didn't want to... kill your brother. I couldn't... Odin possessed me.' He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, opening them again. 'Tell Loki that this... isn't his fault. He can't go back... to Asgard.' He slid to the ground. 'Odin... won't stop killing... if he has Loki... It will only get... worse... Please... tell him.' He remained silent for a long time and if he hadn't been looking at Loki with those piercing blue eyes, sparkling even in his last moments, Loki would've thought he was dead. 'Not for me.' His eyes fell shut. 'For you... For him.'

_'For you,' Thor said with a smile, holding out an old-looking book that Loki didn't recognise._  
'What is it?,' he asked. 'Why are you giving it to me?'  
Thor rolled his eyes. 'It's Midgardian. I want to see it, Midgard, and maybe you'd like to come with me?'  
Loki shook his head but took the book. 'Ask Fandral,' he muttered, turning away. 

Loki remembered the stories of Ragnarok. Vidar would not only kill Fernir; his other son, Jormungandr, was destined to die by Thor's hand and Thor would perish from Jormungandr's poison. He had never believed Ragnarok would happen, but, as he stood there, the she small patch of solid ground he had managed to keep over the years crumbling beneath his feet, he wondered if maybe, it would happen for him. The gods wouldn't fall, but he would, the world wouldn't end but his would and that would be the end of it. After Ragnarok, the gods would come back and the flooded earth would resurface, but Loki wouldn't heal or be reborn. There would be nothing left to come back for.

_Midgard was cold, but Loki didn't mind. He hid his hands in the pockets of the surprisingly comfortable Midgardian hoodie he was wearing and looked around. It was dark outside, the lights of the city at the foot of the hill barely shining bright enough to illuminate the form that was sitting in de grass. It was Thor, of course. He hadn't asked Fandral to accompany him to Midgard and when he turned around, he smiled as if he had been expecting Loki. Before Loki knew it, his shoulders were being crushed in a rare hug. 'Loki! You've come!'_

For a moment Loki squeezed his eyes shut and doubted, balling his hands into fists. He should let Thor die, send his body back to Odin and see what happened when the Realm found out that Odin had killed their favourite prince, look the other way when all of Asgard turned against their beloved Allfather. But he couldn't. He couldn't watch as Thor suffered, couldn't spend the magic he could use to keep Thor from dying to transport his dead body.

_He hugged Thor back, barely realizing that he was checking for injuries. Even though Thor wasn't hurt, Loki immediately regretted not going with him from the start. Had had always been there to help Thor when one of his stupid ideas went south and all kinds of things could've gone wrong with Thor all alone in Midgard. But Thor was okay and he was with him now._

He took a deep breath and knelt down next to Thor, putting a hand on his faintly moving chest. He closed his eyes and breathed in, not only air, but also the poison that was rushing through Thor's veins and all the damage it had done. It wasn't as easy as it sounded, of course. It took hours for him to absorb all of the poison and neutralize it before it could hurt him and to mend the wounds that could be fatal. Meanwhile he also needed to keep Hel's disguise up and force Thor's heart to pump the now clean blood through his body. By the time it was over, he barely had the strength to move Thor to his bed and pull a blanket over his healing body. Except for the damage the poison had done, he also had cuts and bruises everywhere, slowly fading now that his body wasn't fighting the poison anymore. The colour was returning to his face and his breathing evened. 

_After holding each other for a little too long, Thor pulled Loki down onto the grass at the top of the hill, sitting down beside him. He didn't say anything, just looked at the insignificant city below them with a small smile playing around his lips. Loki didn't realize he was staring, too busy admiring the way the light reflected in Thor's eyes._

Loki thought he had fallen asleep, but then Thor's eyes fluttered open and found Loki's. 'Don't be so ridiculous,' he said, his voice still weak. 

_He turned towards Loki before his eyes drifted back to the sky above them. 'Look up,' he said._

Loki frowned, stroking strands of his hair out of Thor's eyes. 'What did you say?', he asked softly.

_It took a few seconds for Loki to shake himself out of his daze and follow Thor's gaze._

Thor almost smiled. 'Don't be ridiculous,' he repeated. 'I know it's you.' He lifted a hand to take Loki's. 'Loki, God of Mischief. In all of the Nine Realms, there's only one person with magic like that.' He softly squeezed Loki's hand and pressed it against his chest so that Loki could feel the steady beat of his heart. 'I'm sorry for coming here. Had I known you were here, I wouldn't have.'

_The sky above them was black, littered with points of light. 'Stars,' Loki whispered. 'Thor, these are wonderful.'_

Loki let go of Thor's hand and took a step back, not dropping his disguise. 'If you hadn't come here you'd be dead. Go to sleep now. I'll make you something to eat before you leave.' He carefully picked up his son's head, wondering when he had stopped feeling uncomfortable about holding a dead body in his bare hands.

_Thor laughed, taking Loki's hand and pulling at it until they were lying in the grass side by side. Loki expected him to let go, but he didn't. 'I know,' Thor muttered, smiling._

Thor waited to speak until Loki was at the door. 'Loki?', he said, making Loki turn to look at him. He smiled at him, even though he looked tired and battered and sad. 'Thank you,' he said. 'For everything.'

_Thor turned his head away from the stars to look at Loki. Loki knew because he was already looking at Thor. 'Thank you, for being here.'_

Loki managed to smile back before he shut the door behind himself. It was the first genuine smile that had been on his lips in ages. 

_Loki felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth and he quickly looked back at the stars, hoping Thor wouldn't notice the blush on his cheeks._

He was terribly tired, but he managed to dig a grave, bury his son and make something to eat for Thor. He left it on his nightstand before he went to bed in one of the guestrooms. It took a long time to fall asleep, somehow. He felt like he could sleep for days, but when he laid down in bed, staring up at the ceiling, he was wide awake. He knew it was because of Thor. He had told himself they would never see each other again. But every promise they had made to each other was broken by now, so he should've expected Thor coming here. He should be stronger than this.

By the time he fell asleep, he had already heard Thor clean up and leave and the next morning, the only proof that Thor had been there at all were the flowers on the graves of his murdered sons.

He sealed his chambers for the rest of the day, doing what he did a lot since the time he had spent in Midgard with Thor. He laid down on his bed, that still smelled of him, and lifted his hand. The spell he cast was one that could conjure the illusion of a Midgardian night sky, but now, all it summoned was darkness. All of the stars were gone.

He tried to summon the stars until he fell asleep from exhaustion, tears of frustration and fear streaming down his face. All he could see was dark, black, a world without Thor and it shouldn't feel like that was it, like he couldn't survive the night without the stars to guide him, couldn't see the light when Thor wasn't there to point it out.


End file.
